What's the Good of Prayer?

A few related questions and answers from the Heidelberg catechism:




Q 116: Why is prayer necessary for Christians?

A: Because it is the chief part of the gratitude which God requires of us, and because God will give his grace and Holy Spirit only to those who sincerely beseech him in prayer without ceasing and who thank him for these gifts.

Q 117: What is contained in a prayer which pleases God and is heard by him?

A: First, that we sincerely call upon the one true God, who has revealed himself to us in his Word, for all that he has commanded us to ask of him. Then, that we thoroughly acknowledge our need and evil condition, so that we may humble ourselves in the presence of his majesty. Third, that we rest assured taht, in spite of our unworthiness, he will certainly hear our prayer for the ssake of Christ our Lord, as he has promised us in his Word.

Q 118: What has God commanded us to ask of him?

A: All things necessary for soul and body which Christ the Lord has included in the prayer which he himself taught us.

I was reading a friend's blog where she wrote beautifully about contentment and how she went from seeing her situation in light of all that it lacked to seeing it in light of the abundance God had provided -- not only in terms of worldly goods but in terms of relationships -- and it started me thinking about my own discontentment. I have allowed severe frustration with my job to seep out into the rest of my life, coloring my perspective on everything.

I know myself well enough to know that I cannot just decide to change my perspective. I can make a conscious effort and wear a look-on-the-bright-side suit for a few days, but it will quickly begin to chafe -- to look and feel unnatural. I need God to change me. I need not to just look on the bright side but to be blinded by it.

And, according to Oswald, that's where prayer comes in: "It is not so true that prayer changes things as that prayer changes me . . . God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man's disposition."

My Father, who dwells in a place that I cannot see, whom I can neither hear nor smell nor touch, but whom I know loves me as one of his children,
You are perfect. You are loving and wise.
Let me see the evidence of you all around me. Work your will in me and in the world about me.
Please, Father, give me what I need this day to work, to write, to create, to mother, to encourage and love my husband, to deal with the conflicts that will inevitably arise. This day, Lord, let me know what it means to find my identity in you, to abide in you.
Forgive me for turning to all the wrong things for comfort. Forgive me for not trusting you, for doubting your goodness, your interest, your love.
Help me to forgive the imperfections in those around me, rather than counting and admiring the scars I've acquired. Give me glimpses of the scars I've caused -- not as a road to shame but as an escape from misanthropy and a guide to grace.
You know that I am but dust. Keep the steps small and the way clear. Conquer and obliterate the demons of discontentment and depression within me. Open my eyes to your presence, your riches, your work in the world around me.
For you are perfect, beautiful, majestic, the author of all good things, and worthy of my praise.

Amen.